I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.
Notes: another chapter that "wasn't planned" - what can I say - when the saber toothed bunny wins .. he wins big! The bunny is picky too - so despite demands, threats of whips, and either withholding or the excessive feeding of carrots, this did take some time to feel 'right'. And still there were doubts.
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Chapter 12
Instead of Higgins, the struggling quartet were met by Chin and two members of the SWAT team who insisted upon switching hands with Ponch and Steve. Almost reluctantly, Becca went to Chin because he intervened before her uncle could reach her first. The older man would never admit to being chilled to the bone and wrung out himself. Covered in mud, Steve was equally uncomfortable as he shook his arms out from stress and strained muscular kinks.
"It's time to take you home, keiki." With a huge smile, Chin easily swung Rebecca up into his arms already careful of the wrist she held in front of her. With the additional help, they all made it back to the big house in less than fifteen minutes and marched right passed the main living room. Seeking equal refuge, those now coming back made a bee-line towards the bedrooms and rear of the house to offer a distinct separation. There in the master bedroom, Danny was stripped of his wet clothes, bundled into dry blankets and propped up on a multitude of pillows. He never roused during the process which was being somewhat duplicated in the bathroom for Becca with Kono.
Curtis's body was duly draped with a large sheet in the corner of the living room where he'd died. Except for Warren Hicks who was situated on his back and unconscious from Higgins' skilled marksmanship, the remaining criminals were lined up along the sofa: cuffed, triaged as necessary, and heavily guarded.
According to Chin and now confirmed by Higgins, the stormy squall would continue for a few more hours. It was just after two o'clock in the morning and the narrow road in to the home was too dangerous to navigate in the rain and for the likely occurrence of mud slides. No one wanted to walk out in the middle of the night, especially with injured prisoners either. So, the team had organized retrieval by helicopter in the morning and was in communication not only with their home offices, but also Special Agent Jim Marcus and members of the local FBI who were continuing to wait at the original rally point to offer support when needed.
"I bet they want our boys here. Why else would the FBI stay down there over night?" Higgins comment softly to Chin about the felons in custody. "It's quite the embarrassment to have Curtis declared deceased and yet ... be so much alive to reconnoiter with these jokers. They've been planning this kidnapping for a while based on what we found in the house. Possibly even a full month."
Chin grunted in agreement. Though, he actually did approve of the added support down below not only due to the situation with Curtis, but also because of the storm and their rescued injured friends. Jim Marcus was a reliable man and a worthy peer. Though distant, his desire to help was genuine and it added a calming layer of protection to an otherwise strange set of circumstances as they all hunkered down rather disagreeably together.
"Well .. he's gone now." Chin affirmed in regard to Curtis. "Everything else can be worked out."
Leaning against the door frame, Higgins seemed subdued and almost sad. "About that .. with the doctor .. can that also be worked out?"
He didn't mean to sound severe or disrespectful, and it was a very reasonable question for which Chin had no answer. The question of Curtis's mysterious key was also open and Chin wondered if the FBI had uncovered anything in their own case files or evidence lockers; because now, there was a strong chance they might not ever discover its secret. Leaving Higgins to watch over those in custody, Chin was thoughtful as he walked away to check on Danny.
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What everyone had missed because of the organized hectic activity as both officers and felons took shelter from the wind and storm, was one little girl's reaction to re-entering the large home. The decision to stay the night was made of necessity and the rear rooms provided a somewhat solitary place where the doctor could examine Danny and where both he and Becca might rest. However, the plan was not sitting well with the little girl even while standing in the master bedroom's large bathroom. Even amongst the real safety of her uncle and all the police officers. Even with all the lights being turned on brightly and for being in a completely different room that she hadn't seen before.
Feeling oddly trapped, Becca felt the lump in her throat growing as tears began to fill her eyes. She was staring at her bare toes while Kono rubbed her gently down, always mindful of the achy wrist. A few seconds later, there was a tiny sniffle as a tear got loose down her cheek.
"Becca?" Toweling the little girl's hair dry after wrapping a bulky warm blanket around her shoulders, Kono was surprised to hear the soft sob. "What's wrong? Did I hurt you?" She asked worriedly.
"I don't want to be here." Becca blurted truthfully while rending the blanket in one hand. "Not here …. and, not in there." She meant the small spare bedroom in particular and Kono completely understood the nervous dread.
"He's here too." That statement came out as a petrified whisper as Becca's eyes glistened.
"Actually." Thinking fast, Kono shrugged dramatically because technically it was the truth. "He actually isn't .. quite here .. anymore. And he won't be coming back ever again."
Those almost conspiratorial words made Becca frown in confusion though Kono had a content, happy quirk to her lips. "Really? The other men are." Becca softly argued.
They had passed the living room and Chin had ducked her head away, but she had easily sensed the volume of people. Mostly officers with guns and she knew the bad men were being guarded because of the bad weather. "Where is he then?" She asked cautiously.
"Just. Gone. You don't need to worry about it." Kono breezily said as she finger-combed Becca's still damp hair away from her face. "Listen. I know you don't like being here, but the storm is real bad right now and it's too dangerous to leave. How would you like a ride in a helicopter in the morning?"
Even tired and wanting to go home, Rebecca's eyes grew at that offer. "Oh." She breathed out just a bit more interested. "Really?"
To seal the deal, Kono nodded with another smile. "Really .. with Uncle Danny. It will fly directly to the roof of the hospital where your Aunt Ellen will be waiting. "
"And daddy?" The soft loss of her smile was quickly covered up and Kono nodded with just a bit less vigor. "He's at the hospital and resting."
Becca's very serious eyes stared unflinchingly now into Kono's face and the officer stroked her hair soothingly. "Your Uncle Ponch will know more. But I do know that your father is resting and as of this very minute, your Aunt Ellen is with him. So he's safe, too."
"Okay." The unspoken understanding of what really Kono meant was written all over Rebecca's face. It was almost too mature and Kono stood up from her kneeling position in an effort to change the touchy subject.
"Well, then. Let's go see what's going on. Your uncle wants to check out your wrist, anyway. After that … you are going to take a nice, long nap and then we'll be leaving before you know it." Fixing the blanket more warmly around her, Kono simply picked Becca up and strode purposefully into the master bedroom where both Chin and Steve were watching Doctor Ramirez. Having ransacked the linen closet, a multitude of filthy, wet towels were tossed to the floor having been used to wipe down the mud and cold water from Danny's body.
A row of butterfly bandages now traced the cut on Danny's cheek and a clean, white bandage covered the head wound. With Steve's help, the doctor had just done his best to clean the gunshot wound to apply a proper pressure bandage around which he had wrapped reams of gauze to also support the fractured rib. A mild aggrieved sigh was heard as Ponch now focused on the two broken fingers and what he thought might be at least one small broken bone in the back of Danny's hand.
An intravenous line was running into Danny's opposite arm and Steve was holding the fluids in one hand, while lurking over Ponch's head. With some relief, Kono saw that Danny was decidedly more at peace and much of the violent shivering had finally ceased. He looked warm and even comfortable amongst cleaner bedding and a pile of blankets.
"His blood pressure is low." Having braced the hand, Ponch had moved on to another check of Danny's vital signs and he informed the friends of the results as he removed his stethoscope from his ears. He would leave the blood pressure cuff around Danny's bicep for future readings. "Respiration is a bit labored; I wish we had oxygen here."
Ponch sat quietly on the edge of the bed and considered other treatments, but in truth, he had done everything he could for the detective. "Well." Ponch sighed audibly before tiredly rubbing both hands over his own face. But then he stayed there longer, fussing over bandages and bruises; then focusing his attention once more on Danny's broken fingers and injured hand.
It took a few more minutes for the doctor to decide that he had truly done enough. When he did, he suddenly rose to his feet only to push Steve to sit where he had just been. "Stay here with him. I need to see Rebecca. If he wakes and is confused, or has any kind of a problem ... call me."
Assuming that she was still in the bathroom cleaning up, Ponch turned to see his niece smiling at him from Kono's arms. "Becca. Time to check you out for real." All of his terseness melted as he pointed to the large wing-backed chair in the corner of the bedroom. "How about you and Aunt Kono sit here so I can take a look?"
Balancing her on a knee, Kono sat where instructed so that Ponch could examine Becca's bruised wrist. Kneeling down in front of her, he was very serious as he palpitated the wrist and each small finger. The attention made Becca very serious too as she watched him gently poke and prod the sensitive area.
"Nothing seems broken." Ponch declared with evident relief. Badly bruised and even a bit scraped, he slathered the area with a cool antiseptic cream and wrapped it with bandages. Then he stared at the scrape on her cheek and frowned angrily. More cream and a small bandage soon followed as she described what really had happened.
"I fell in the van." Becca explained almost daring to sound pleased with herself. "I did it on purpose so I could hide my cell phone. Daddy said it had a kid finder app and well .. I guess it worked."
Ponch's anger faded as he listened to her story and he made a stunned sound deep in the back of his throat. "So that's how you hid the phone?'
She nodded and then yawned tiredly. "Uh huh." Since her new phone had been a bone of contention in the family, Becca set her lips firmly in order to take the opportunity to defend herself. "It worked really good .. and everyone came .. so, I need it."
His grin turned into a smile, and then finally a deep laugh. Her eyes were glassy with fatigue and he had to stop to lovingly kiss her forehead. "Yes, you are one thousand percent right." Trading places with Kono, Ponch gently swung Becca up into his arms before settling her onto his lap. "I guess you do."
Pleased about winning her case and with her wrist feeling better, Becca scrunched down into the blanket she was wrapped in. Her eyes drifted shut while she felt her uncle fixing yet another cozy blanket around them both so she could burrow contentedly into his lap. Safe and warm, she was sound asleep seconds later and Ponch was still smiling as he watched her face smooth out.
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After taking the doctor's place on the edge of the bed, Steve half-watched and listened to the goings on in the room. According to the doctor, Danny was purely exhausted and definitely feverish. With the assumption that the gunshot wound had become infected, Danny was weak and he needed to be on a regimen of antibiotics and more fluids. Combined with that desirable course of action was a general concern about Danny's head injury.
Almost tentatively touching Danny's good hand, Steve was relieved to find it warm. Much of the terrible trembling had ceased too as cold, wet clothing was removed and warm blankets were tucked around his body. If they had to be stuck and unable to get to a proper hospital setting, there was much to be said for having the safety of a house, a comfortable bed, and an excellent doctor at their beck and call.
"How's he doing?" Now freed from her task, Kono wandered over to check on Danny. "He looks much better already."
"He needs more." Looking up at the ceiling as if he could see the night sky, Steve made a face over the howling wind and heavy downpour. "But it could be much worse." Steve admitted as Danny twitched and made a face. The fingers on his good hand feebly clenched a fold in a blanket and then relaxed; after that his knee moved just slightly under the deep covers. "He's feverish and concussed; but doc thinks he'll be fine with a great deal of rest."
Breathing out a loud sigh of relief, Kono shared the same about Becca. "Her wrist is badly bruised. But she did good .. real good. We wouldn't have found them without her fast thinking."
Steve nodded in agreement. Things had gotten out of control quickly and they literally would have had nothing if Becca hadn't so bravely planted her cell phone in the van. Glancing over his shoulder, Steve grinned when he saw Ponch and the little girl now sleeping together in the corner chair. In his mid-sixties, the large doctor was not used to such a great deal of physical activity which had been brought on by a deep, emotional strain. Anchoring his arms around his niece, it had taken him a scant few minutes to join her in slumber.
"What are we going to do about this issue?" Chin quietly asked as he lobbed his head towards the corner of the bedroom.
Shaking his head in exasperation, Steve put his hand on Danny's chest when he suddenly jerked and mumbled something unintelligible as if dreaming. "Right now, we let him sleep and worry about it later .. let's worry about it all tomorrow. But I think Danny is waking up."
Muted sound flickered around him as Danny briefly roused to a foggy feeling of warmth and at first he thought it was an evil trick. Having been so wet and freezing cold, he was sure that what he was feeling now would all fall away once he fully woke and opened his eyes. Still feeling dazed, he took stock of his body while listening to soft murmurs near him. With his eyes closed, he recognized Chin's voice at a distance as he moved his fingers and winced around a dull headache.
There was a subtle uncontrollabe shiver every so often and he could feel the subdued pain in his side. Weakly experimenting, he realized that his left hand was strapped into something and another ache was creeping into his wrist. Though oddly warm, pain was seeping back into his consciousness and he found himself taking a more careful, shallow breath when a shape pain rocked his side unexpectedly. It hurt and Danny winced in reaction. Then he heard his name and felt a comforting pressure on his chest which deepened the feeling of warmth and he frowned. While he certainly wasn't well, his dream was comfortable and he resented the concept of doing more. Tentatively, Danny dropped his good hand down to his side to feel the remembered gunshot wound, but just as he connected with a thick bandage, his hand was halted by strong fingers.
"Danny?" The fingers belonged to his partner and Danny truly knew the faked warmth was a trick. Some elaborate scheme concocted where he might be made to feel warm and dry, yet in reality was in a godforsaken cave .. or worse, still under a tree and sitting up to his ears in mud. Whatever had been done was either a bad idea or an unfair hoax.
"Danny .. wake up." A sporadic shiver ran through his body and Danny winced as it pulled at his injured side.
"No." With his eyes still closed, Danny breathed out the word as he tried to free his hand. "Go .. way .. Steven."
"What? Danny ... wake up." There was movement near him and the bed dipped more as Steve freed his fingers and moved closer. It meant the warmth was indeed fleeting, so Danny tossed his head with an even deeper frown.
"No, Steve. Go away." In the distance, Danny could hear wind and rain pounding wherever Steve had them hiding. So it was only a matter of time for the warmth to flee and the truth to come out. He barely heard the alarmed tone to Steve's voice because he was too busy enjoying what he knew would be the last bit of false warmth.
"Danny .. open your eyes." Coaching or actually pleading, Steve was still there and Danny groaned in refusal. The tone changed to one of petulance as Steve dug in, too. A hand was placed on his forehead, then his cheek and then back to his forehead where it lay heavily. In a way, that felt good too and Danny couldn't find the strength to object. Blandly, he settled for listening to the hum of conversation around him as he briefly zoned out again.
"He's running a fever." Steve's voice moved in the air, so Danny knew he had spoken to someone else. "It may be higher and he's confused."
"Not." Danny muttered under his breath resentfully. "Go .. way."
"Danny." Closer again, the next statement was for him though and Danny knew he should have stayed quiet. "By the way, I'm not going anywhere … so open your eyes."
However, where he didn't object to the soothing hand on his forehead, Danny did find the energy to decline that request. Under the blankets, an ill shiver came and then went. "No. Absolutely .. not .. listening."
Obstinately sinking into the final dredges of comfort, he still refused. "Go .. way."
The bed dipped again, this time as Steve got up. Running his fingers weakly over a nubby blanket, Danny frowned again because it was a very good joke. Testing the theory, his scowl deepened when he dug his fingers firmly into the mud he knew must be there, but only managed to come up with a fist full of soft, warm material. His head even felt comfortably propped on soft downy pillows. But he flinched when a cool cloth was suddenly draped over his forehead and then wiped down his face and neck.
That also felt good enough to dampen some of the sharp headache and he sighed until he remembered it wasn't real. Steve was beyond persistent as he took up what was already a customary place near his right hip on the bed. "Danno .. come on .. you've been out for the count for a while now … wake up for us. Then you can go back to sleep again."
"Trick." He murmured quietly because what Steve said made no sense at all. Above him, three sets of eyes flew amongst the other in a rising state of alarm. "Not .. real."
"Danny?" Kono hesitantly asked as he heard a faint shuffle and softer whispers. "Do you know where you are, brah?"
"He's confused and doesn't know what's happening. Maybe we should wake Doctor Ramirez? This could all be from the head injury … not just the fever." The worried comments were from Chin now as he rudely talked over Danny as if he weren't there. Yet he was the topic of conversation. Moaning under his breath, Danny mumbled in disgust. Everyone was in on it then. He only woke more as Chin's voice moved around him as if the man were walking. The words resonated and meant something as they sunk into his pained head.
"Doc's exhausted, though. Plus, I just don't want to disturb Rebecca either; she's finally sleeping."
"What?" Clenching the blanket tightly now, Danny forced his eyes open only to blink furiously up into Steve's very worried face. His vision wasn't entirely cooperative and waking fully sparked the headache, but he could most definitely was not in a cave or jungle or anywhere except for a real bed. Near him, the cousins were shoulder to shoulder sharing equally concerned expressions.
"I … don't? Steve?" Completely confused, Danny pulled at the heavy array of blankets before lifting his heavily splinted left hand for a hazy look. He didn't recognize where he was but his team was spread out around him and though it wasn't very clear, he could just make out the large silhouette of Doctor Ramirez in the corner of the room with a bundle of blankets piled upon his lap. The room was darkened slightly but more filtered light was coming in from the hallway.
"Becca? Where .. is she?" Danny winced as he tried to sit up. He gasped as pain flared through his side and he spontaneously blinked back stunned tears. "Where? What's .. going on?"
"Oh no." Steve was back on the bed and pushing him to stay flat though it was hardly necessary. Danny's complexion had paled even more and he was now panting heavily around the pain caused by the ill-timed movement.
"You need to be still. You're banged up pretty bad; but you're going to be fine." In one hand, Steve held a bag of IV fluids which Danny belatedly realized were attached to his arm. The fingers on his left hand were splinted and the hand itself was heavily wrapped up to his wrist. He'd been doctored and yet wasn't in a proper hospital; on top of that, his entire team was in attendance while a storm raged outside.
"Do you remember anything .. about what happened before?" Steve's hand was splayed wide open across the top blanket. The pressure kept Danny grounded as he tried to process where he was and what had happened. There was a long silence as splintered memories crept in and Danny eventually nodded.
"I found Becca ... in the house. We watched … from high." Steve waited patiently as Danny tried to explain the pieces that were coming back to him. His unfocused gaze fell towards Kono because he remembered her, too. "Saw … flashlights. Becca fell .. or left for you? Is Doc here?"
There was a change in Steve's overly wounded posture as he finally relaxed. If Danny remembered some things, Ponch had offered more confidence about a bad concussion versus a skull fracture. Initial worries were slowly overcome as Danny tiredly breathed out a succinct version. It was enough and Steve finally grinned. "Yeah, we found you both. The storm is at its height so we brought you back to the house to ride it out. Becca's fine and sleeping already. We leave in the morning after the rain stops."
"Oh. The house … bedroom?" He understood it now and sighed almost happily as Steve confirmed it. "Nice." There was a faint glimmer of a quirky smile as Danny briefly communicated his approval for the comfortable, warm surroundings. He vaguely heard Chin's happy snort and a word that sound almost like 'typical.'
Yet as he tried to stay awake, another shiver pulsed through his body. Above him, Chin shared a look with Steve as he rinsed the wash cloth and once more draped it over Danny's hot forehead. Their friend had an odd awakening and his temperature was indeed going up. Things were relatively stable, but there was still much to deal with and Danny needed a real hospital.
Checking his watch, Steve muffled an impatient noise under his breath. They had at least four hours to go before they could consider getting a chopper in to a nearby clearing for retrieval. But as he stated before, things could be much worse.
"Go to sleep, Danno. We're getting an airlift out of here tomorrow morning when the storm breaks." There was a lull during which Steve sat more comfortably next to him and Danny felt the blankets being pulled up higher. Steve's voice had fallen to a whisper and was likely testament to his own weariness. But Danny found himself still listening as the soft drone continued.
"It was either this or risk travel back to the rally point in the storm ... we all thought this was the better option."
"Oh. Good .. one." It took a monumental effort to peer up at Steve through heavily lidded eyes. When he succeeded, it was short-lived as Danny lazily lifted an eyebrow to slur out one final comment. "Best one .. yet."
Virtually asleep on the last word, he entirely missed Steve's grin.
~ to be continued ~